Perennial Best Buys Honda Accord and Toyota Camry continue to shine with refinement, model diversity, and comfort. Both come in coupe and sedan forms, offer economic 4-cylinder or sporty V6 power, have room for four adults, and are reasonably priced.

Recommended models include the import-flavored Chevy Malibu, plain-Jane Ford Taurus, and the good-looking Pontiac Grand Prix. All come with V6 power, offer lots of standard equipment, and have pleasing road manners that will suit a variety of driving styles. The restyled and larger Nissan Altima is new to the Recommended list this year. We are impressed with interior room and road manners, but disappointed by the budget-level interior materials and assembly.

Once Nissan's most popular car line, Maxima has lately run a bit behind sister Altima in sales. But though both are down in 2001, Maxima has been losing ground more than twice as fast--off 22.1 percent year-to-year through the third quarter vs. Altima's 10.8-percent decline. Maxima may face even tougher sledding now that Altima is slightly larger and offers almost as much available power for less money--not to mention a fresh new look.

But this situation is just temporary, as Maxima is being redesigned for model-year 2004 as essentially a larger, more luxurious Altima, with unique styling that should add length at each end, and perhaps a little extra width too. Nissan has already deemphasized lower-priced Maximas to put some marketing distance between the two lines, and the '04s will likely move a bit further upscale of Altima, though not so far as to interfere with sister Infiniti division's related I35. We'd expect two models: luxury and sporty. Introduction is reportedly set for the first quarter of 2003. Nissan will likely fire up the publicity machine by previewing the new Maxima as a thinly disguised "concept," perhaps as soon as this winter's auto shows.